[Archived] The Relegation Battle Aftermath

[Hi Mack]

On today's performance and recent results all three derbies they have are defiantly winnable.

On our recent performances we'll be lucky to win a Raffle!

[philipl]

Wolves very unlucky not to have beaten Spurs. Two bad decisions from Halsey (not sending off Hutton and disallowing the Stearman) did for Wolves.

[Olveres]

Wolves very unlucky not to have beaten Spurs. Two bad decisions from Halsey (not sending off Hutton and disallowing the Stearman) did for Wolves.

Just shows you how bent it all is. Serie A corruption was ultimately uncovered..... maybe Assange can help us out lmao

[Ferrit]

Yet another weekend with a number of teams around us battling, and picking up points whereas we lube up and get ready for the big bang.

Come on Chelsea on Monday!

[vintageadidas]

My link

[92er]

My link

I think someone did that link a few days ago.

[John]

As soon as we sacked Sam and appointed Kean, the world of football, the media, every man & their dog was bemused, and said it could relegate us.

Looks like the majority of people in this world are not thick then....

[Sverre]

I just used BBC's "relegation tool"

I was surprised to see Blackburn end up at 15th with 38 points, blackpool and west ham below us, and West brom, wigan and wolves going down..

post your prediction!

link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/predictor/default.stm

[roverwhelmed]

I just used BBC's "relegation tool"

I was surprised to see Blackburn end up at 15th with 38 points, blackpool and west ham below us, and West brom, wigan and wolves going down..

post your prediction!

link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/predictor/default.stm

I did it too.

I got us at tenth with 47 points lol.

West Ham, Wolves and Wigan down for me.

Hmmm....

[neekoy]

I've got Arsenal winning the league on goal difference, Man U, Chelsea, Spurs round out top 4 with Man City getting Uefa spot, Rovers at 14th on 40 points and Blackpool, Wolves and Wigan going down.

[roverwhelmed]

I've got Arsenal winning the league on goal difference, Man U, Chelsea, Spurs round out top 4 with Man City getting Uefa spot, Rovers at 14th on 40 points and Blackpool, Wolves and Wigan going down.

Ha I didn't even look at the top - just did now and I had Arsenal with 87 points.

Would absolutely LOVE that.

[Miker]

It's going to be tight, but I'm positive West Ham will survive under Grant and Wigan will go down. I think Blackpool may falter at the end as well. No clue who the third team would be. I would've said West Brom, but I have a feeling that Hodgson will get them out of trouble.

[philipl]

In a relegation battle like this, every weakness in the clubs involved gets exposed and exploited.

Right now we have more exploitable weaknesses than the other ten clubs down there and it doesn't look good from where I am sitting.

Thank goodness for Mr Halsey robbing Wolves yesterday or we would have been one point above 18th.

[Mattyblue]

Watching the other threatened teams over the last few weeks has told me that we are in the worst shape of the lot.

We don't have the quality going forward or in midfield that Wigan and West Ham possess. I cannot see us battling for points like Birmingham and Wolves.

Also, we have not brought in a player in January that has made an impact anywhere near the level of Demba Ba or O'Hara.

Put a floundering rookie manager into the equation up against seasoned battlers like McCarthy, McCleish et al and we are up against it.

[jim mk2]

Watching the other threatened teams over the last few weeks has told me that we are in the worst shape of the lot.

We don't have the quality going forward or in midfield that Wigan and West Ham possess. I cannot see us battling for points like Birmingham and Wolves.

Also, we have not brought in a player in January that has made an impact anywhere near the level of Demba Ba or O'Hara.

Put a floundering rookie manager into the equation up against seasoned battlers like McCarthy, McCleish et al and we are up against it.

I desperately hope I'm wrong but I'm already resigned to relegation. This feels like the Bryan Kidd regime all over again. The point about the January window is relevant because it was hailed as a "good window" by many yet it is apparent now the team has not been strengthened at all . The only hope for me - and it is a slim hope - is that senior players such as Salgado (after Real Madrid I wonder what he makes of this farce ?), Nelsen and Givet ignore the manager, take the bull by the horns and organise the team on the field properly to grind out the points we need. And that is presuming that the players care - some of them clearly do care but it is also obvious from recent performances that some do not. Either way, it is no use expecting Kean to lead a revival - the man is clearly out of his depth. Ferguson and Redknapp both warned there was "big trouble" ahead for Rovers when Sam was sacked - those warnings and similar warnings from many on here were sadly right on the mark.

[47er]

I desperately hope I'm wrong but I'm already resigned to relegation. This feels like the Bryan Kidd regime all over again. The point about the January window is relevant because it was hailed as a "good window" by many yet it is apparent now the team has not been strengthened at all . The only hope for me - and it is a slim hope - is that senior players such as Salgado (after Real Madrid I wonder what he makes of this farce ?), Nelsen and Givet ignore the manager, take the bull by the horns and organise the team on the field properly to grind out the points we need. And that is presuming that the players care - some of them clearly do care but it is also obvious from recent performances that some do not. Either way, it is no use expecting Kean to lead a revival - the man is clearly out of his depth. Ferguson and Redknapp both warned there was "big trouble" ahead for Rovers when Sam was sacked - those warnings and similar warnings from many on here were sadly right on the mark.

Ferguson and Redknapp---what do they know about football eh?

[Guest Walshy]

I have us finishing on 39 points in 15th

[Sverre]

I'm still hopefully Formica can help us.. Especially against Blackpool!! I think he will be a better choice than Gamst, with Formica being good at set pieces as well.

We are a group of nearly 20 Norwegians coming over to see the Blackpool game... It will be an historic trip to say the least.

[John]

Harry Redknapp back in December.

“When new owners come in they've all got mates or have heard of someone who is good, they haven't got a clue really. If they make the wrong decision I can see Blackburn being bang in trouble this year. He [Allardyce] is going to be a very difficult act to follow."

[thenodrog]

Harry Redknapp back in December.

“When new owners come in they've all got mates or have heard of someone who is good, they haven't got a clue really. If they make the wrong decision I can see Blackburn being bang in trouble this year. He [Allardyce] is going to be a very difficult act to follow."

I bet Arry got a piece of that 50:1 at Willam Hills too.

[Iceman]

Its not just about organistation, but making the right changes at the right time. This is where, an experienced manager will be able to adjust better. In the Fulham game, Kean had the opportunity to bring on a fresh striker, instead brought on Emerton. Unless Givet was injured, why bring him off, and letting our better impact player move to left back. Why didn't he bring Morris on, and let him play at left back, and leave Olsson to attack? Its these poor decisions, that are causing our downfall, and why I believe a real manager, would still see us to safety.

[92er]

Its not just about organistation, but making the right changes at the right time. This is where, an experienced manager will be able to adjust better. In the Fulham game,

Souness was an experienced manager but he made some really weird substitutions at the end.

What we need is a better manager than Kean.

[Corporal Spicy Weiner]

How on earth did it come to this!? About a month ago I remember reading a post on the Guardian's football blog with one bloke saying, "Usually at this time of the season, a seemingly safe midtable side suddenly plummets towards the relegation trapdoor. I'm looking at Blackburn here - an unsettled, average squad with a rookie manager."

At the time I was outraged by that comment. 'What a plank', I thought, 'We only need two wins and a few draws and we're safe as houses'.

Little did I realise how accurate that guy would prove to be.

Our form is disastrous, we can't keep a clean sheet to save our lives and our run-in looks pretty tough, with fixtures that historically have not been kind to us over the years - let's face it, we can write off West Ham away right now!

What makes me especially nervous is that we are on a terminal slump at precisely the wrong time. The likes of Wolves and West Ham have been in a relegation battle all season and their mental will is fortified for the battle ahead. They are both picking up results and heading in the right direction.

Rovers on the other hand must be utterly shellshocked. It seems like just a fortnight ago, we were seventh in the league and playing lovely stuff. Now our top flight status is suddenly and gravely imperilled. The board, manager and players must be in a state of outright panic.

I still think we have the experience in this type of battle to edge ourselves clear of worry. We must surely be able to pull at least two wins out of the hat in the remaining games? It doesn't help, however, that our next absolute must win fixture is against a team as equally desperate as us.

[MarkBRFC]

Just done that predictor thing, i did it as honestly as possible whilst looking at all the games, and had us going down with Wigan & WBA in 18th place with 38 points. Scary.

[jim mk2]

How on earth did it come to this!? About a month ago I remember reading a post on the Guardian's football blog with one bloke saying, "Usually at this time of the season, a seemingly safe midtable side suddenly plummets towards the relegation trapdoor. I'm looking at Blackburn here - an unsettled, average squad with a rookie manager."

At the time I was outraged by that comment. 'What a plank', I thought, 'We only need two wins and a few draws and we're safe as houses'.

Little did I realise how accurate that guy would prove to be.

This thread was started at the beginning of January.

Some of us can see the signs long before the likes of the Guardian.